Speculative Fiction—an all-encompassing genre created to describe stories of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and other stories that have an element of “What if...” in them. A story in speculative fiction is one that adds an element of the unreal, or asks, what would become of our society if history took a different direction at some important event? Fiction with a little something extra thrown in.—William D. Richards

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Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Virago One (Ace of Space, Book 2) by John Triptych

Release date: July 18, 2017

Subgenre: Hard science fiction, technothriller

About Virago One:

Virago: the codename for a top secret project between ACE Corp and USAF
Space Command. Its goal is to deploy the first fusion-powered battleship
to ensure American domination of any potential conflict in space.

There’s only one problem: Virago has been stolen.

The
world is now at the brink of war as the hijacked spacecraft forges a
path of destruction across known space. The task to intercept and retake
this dangerous adversary falls on corporate troubleshooter Stilicho
Jones and NASA Special Agent Darian Arante, who must overcome their
mutual distrust and antagonism just to survive. This time the stakes are
higher, the price of failure too catastrophic to imagine.

Combining
hard science with heart-stopping thrills, this second book in the Ace
of Space series will surely delight fans of Tom Clancy’s The Hunt for
Red October, Craig Thomas’s Firefox, Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle’s
Footfall, and the works of Dale Brown.

Excerpt:

“I can still get you to
safety if you follow my instructions carefully,” she said.

Despite the chilly weather, Vlad’s long hair was matted with sweat.
Her latest words added to his stress and bewilderment. “What? What kind of game
is this?”

“It’s not a game. The authorities have surrounded the place. Two
plainclothes FSB agents will enter the café in twenty seconds. I would suggest
you activate your personal server right now.”

Vlad’s right hand shook as he reached over to his side and power
cycled the fist-sized device on his belt. The moment it went online, a series
of letters and numbers appeared on the lenses of his smartglasses. “What … is
this?”

“That is the administrator level access code for the Saint
Petersburg Police AI network. If you are as good as you claim to be, then you
should be able to get out of this yourself,” the voice said. “Ten seconds till
they come inside.”

Vlad held his breath. For a brief moment he just sat there, staring
off into space. His choices were clear. He would either use everything in his
power to escape, or he would give up and be taken into custody, to spend the
remaining years of his life in a windowless cell. His smartglass as well as the
gloves he wore had a virtual interface system, and he could input code with the
flick of his fingers or by using his eye movements. Vlad quickly activated his
gloves and began typing furiously with his fingers, moving his digits in the
air as each input was virtually recorded on his smartglass interface.

The double doors opened, and two very fit looking men with short
haircuts entered. They had bulges in their jackets as they started looking
around. The smiling waitress approached them, but the taller of the two waved
her away. Vlad noticed them, but he concentrated on the lines of code being
displayed on the virtual screen in his left eye. Both men looked in different
directions, slowly scanning the room until the one closest to Vlad spotted him.
The two men started walking slowly towards him, their right hands reaching into
their coats.

The interviewer was telling the truth about the com-link access.
Vlad was coding furiously as he inserted his control exploit application into
the police server. The resulting breach gave him a clear view of what he was up
against. Two more FSB agents waited outside, standing by their car. An aerial
police drone was hovering near the roof of the building while two teams of cops
were cordoning off the street. The FSB had informed the local police that they
needed minor assistance, and they allowed their network to be linked for better
coordination. That was their mistake.

The two men stood in front of Vlad, their chiseled faces staring
intently at him. “We need you to come with us,” the shorter of the two said.

Vlad continued to add more code into the interface as he looked up
at them. “Who? Me?”

“Yes, you,” the taller one said. “Now get up or we will hurt you.”

One of the police cars out in the street suddenly activated its own
autodrive feature. The sedan’s wheels burned rubber as it barreled past the
surprised cops standing beside it, and the vehicle made a quick turn while
continuing to accelerate towards the front doors of the café. The two
additional FSB agents standing outside shouted in alarm as they both dove away
for safety, just as the police car smashed into the double doors of the
establishment.

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